Andrew Young

Andrew Young is a recurring but briefly observed public figure in Andy Warhol’s diary. Across separate social occasions, he appears in passing on Park Avenue, at a formal dinner where he speaks about the United Nations and freedom, and at a crowded sporting event. The diary’s focus is less on Young’s biography than on the fleeting encounters through which a public presence becomes visible.

Brief Encounters

Young told Andy Warhol that he had seen him walking along Park Avenue the previous day. The exchange gives their contact a small continuity: Young recognizes Warhol from the street, then mentions the sighting when they meet. The diary records no further conversation from that encounter, making recognition itself the defining detail.

At a formal dinner for Miz Lillian Carter at the Waldorf-Astoria, Young came over and shook Warhol’s hand. The gathering brought together around thirty-five Jewish guests onstage, while speeches and songs continued through a long meal. Young’s greeting places him among the prominent attendees, though the diary gives no account of any private exchange between the two men.

Public Speech and Presence

Young’s clearest recorded action comes at the dinner, where he delivered a speech about the United Nations and freedom. The entry situates the speech within an evening of ceremony and public remarks, alongside a medal presentation to Miz Lillian Carter. Young is therefore presented not only as a familiar face but as a speaker addressing international organization and political ideals.

Warhol’s description of Young is brief and distinctly personal: he likened Young’s appearance to Johnny Mathis. That visual comparison sits beside the account of Young’s public speech, bringing the diary’s characteristic attention to appearance into contact with the formal role he occupied at the event.

A Figure in the Crowd

At another public gathering, Young again appears in a scene crowded with well-known attendees. The diary notes that Henry Kissinger shook Warhol’s hand, then turns to men from Muhammad Ali’s Pennsylvania camp, who asked whether Warhol had spoken with Ali. Young is not assigned a speech or a sustained interaction in this passage; his brief appearances elsewhere in the diary supply the more substantial record of his contact with Warhol.

Taken together, these entries preserve a narrow but telling portrait: Young is encountered in public settings, recognized across the city’s social world, and heard speaking about the United Nations and freedom. The diary does not develop him into a personal confidant or explore his political life in depth. Instead, it captures the difference between being seen in a crowd and being remembered for what one said.